Steelmaker jumps as profit gain drives 13% rise in dividend

Voestalpine, Austria's biggest steelmaker, rose the most in nine months in Vienna trading yesterday as a gain in profit underpinned a 13 per cent jump in the dividend.

The company proposed to raise the dividend by 10 cents to 90 cents a share, exceeding estimates of analysts. Net income rose by a third to €444.9 million in the year to the end of March, it said yesterday.

Profit a year earlier was hurt by provisions for an anti-trust fine following an investigation into railway steel.

Voestalpine is expanding US capacity with a €550 million iron-ore pellet factory in Texas, while in Europe, it has scaled back its forecast for a recovery.

Chief executive Wolfgang Eder said the company planned to boost revenue from regions outside Europe to at least 40 per cent from 23 per cent in the long term. – (Bloomberg)